The year 2014 is shaping up to be a good year for Bollywood, with two stunning films releasing in the first two months.
If Dedh Ishqiya was a basic plot executed with style, class and finesse, then Highway is no different. In a nutshell, it is a movie about two strangers on the road, but manages to explore many conflicts and ideas that are deeply embedded in the characters’ relationship.
It is certainly not a love story. One might be fooled into expecting one by the trailer and word of mouth and step foot in the cinema thinking of it as one. Love in Highway serves the same purpose that scores do in a Ram Gopal Varma film — merely to create an atmosphere for the real drama, and it is that drama that makes you sit through two and half hours of a Bollywood film.
Director Imtiaz Ali’s fascination with the concept of salvation makes his films stand out, because they are more like journeys, which is also the reason why his characters travel a lot. However, in that journey, it is usually one gorgeous woman who becomes an object of yearning for the male protagonist, and gives him a purpose to fulfill and a nirvana to strive for, and that’s where Highway takes a U-turn.
The film begins in a posh household in India where Veera’s (Alia Bhatt) wedding preparations are underway. She is the only daughter of a rich business tycoon. One night before her wedding, she sneaks out of her house to go on a long drive with her fiancé because she feels suffocated in her home.
They drive on and on upon Veera’s insistence, until they stop at a gas station. There, a burglary takes place and consequently, one of the dacoits takes Veera hostage. Her fiancé keeps on yelling while sitting in the car as the dacoits disappear along with Veera.
That is where the chemistry between the bubbly and outgoing Veera, and the composed and conservative dacoit Mahabir (Randeep Hooda) starts developing.
Like any focused director, Ali doesn’t spend a lot of time in building up the story, and within 10 to 15 minutes, we find ourselves on the highway, where the real action takes place.
It is this smart pacing of the film that keeps this rather long piece of fiction alive as Ali has a narrative shock to offer every time one starts to think it is getting stale.
Beyond a carefully constructed story that at times does a get a little self indulgent, it is the incredible performances by both Bhatt and Hooda that make it one of the most well-executed films of recent times.
Bhatt had a glossy launch through Student of the Year, but Highway is what she will always be known for. She manages to cover a vast range of emotions with immaculate versatility and surprising resilience, making her count among the likes of present-day acting divas Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra.
Hooda, on the other hand, has always delivered (with the exception of Murder 3), but more than his abilities as an actor, it is his complicated character in the film that makes him give his career’s best performance.
Mahabhir’s physical strength and loud voice camouflage a fragile being that is brimming with years of hatred and depression. Occasionally, Mahabir presents the strange dilemma that he is faced with, and Hooda carries his character’s baggage with glory.
All in all, Highway is a smart film because every time you think it will subject the audience to a cliché, it instead manages to turn many associated with both Bollywood narratives and Ali’s previous work on their head. It might unsettle you if you are a regular Bollywood buff, but that is also its ultimate strength — treating emotions in a manner that keeps basic human nature in mind, unlike the usual treatment of the ‘Rajs’ and ‘Rahuls’ of Bollywood.
Verdict: Highway succeeds in creating an epic saga, where Lootera failed to do so. From the slow pace to the use of natural light, everything is well orchestrated. It is one of the rare Bollywood films where love is kept in the background, as more thoughtful ideas take the forefront. A must watch!
Rating: 4/5
Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2014.
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